The cursed prince

{35}

The sun was finally shining down on the kingdom, allowing the occupants to slowly arise from their land of slumber. Both Karin and Naruto sat next to each other, half drenched in water as they laughed uncontrollably with one another. Turning to look back at her cousin, the princess giggled once more to get rid of the laughter in her system before sitting back up straight.

"Well that was the most fun I have had in a while... Isn't that right 'Mr. Never got to win in Wolf and Foxes'?" Karin rhetorically asked as she attempted her best to dry off her night gown before turning to look back at her cousin who just started to sit back up right, reveling in the playful glare decorating her cousin's face.

"Seriously Karin? You all had an advantage! Either you were older than me or had the training to run and dodge. So don't go around and shaming me," Naruto argued back as he stood back up next to his cousin, hoping to get her slightly inconvenienced for that 'rude' name she boldly assigned to him.

With a quick chuckle, Karin helped her cousin up from the ground who couldn't help but chuckle softly along with her. Naruto looked up at his cousin as his smile slowly faded away to show a subtle frown, seemingly in debate with himself which prompted the princess to frown softly in worry. Ever since she was rescued from the Fire kingdom, her younger cousin has never been one to frown.

"Naruto... Is everything alright?" Karin asked as she firmly yet not tightly placed her hands on the younger boy's shoulders. The prince looked up at his cousin, still in an internal debate with himself, however, in what seemed to be a good half a minute of silence, Naruto opened his mouth to express his thoughts out loud.

Yet, before any words could leave the prince, an object has shone through one of the many palace windows behind his cousin. There, behind one of the windows, stood a figure staring down at both of them. By virtue of the rising sun, the figure was quite visible if looked for. His unmistakable long brown locks and luxurious white outfit immediately gave away the figure's identity.

Before Naruto could even react, the figure - Neji - lifted his arm and placed one finger over his lips as a sign of silence. With a deep sigh, the prince turned back to look at his cousin with a soft - slightly unbelievable - smile while simultaneously shaking his head in response to her question. "We should head back inside, everyone else might be awake by now and wondering where we went," the prince attempted to joke as he nudged his cousin towards the palace, hoping that she would drop the questioning and follow him back in without any hesitation.

Hesitantly, Karin nodded as she allowed her cousin to lead the way. The emotion her younger cousin held was quite unsettling to say the least. Hopefully she could talk to her elder cousin about this matter and get it sorted as quickly as possible. Maybe Kurama might have a method to swiftly deal with his younger brother unlike herself.

The walk back into the palace and towards the top floor has been quieter than usual, especially when the prince is present. "Um... Karin... Do-Do you think you could keep this whole thing a secret... Like not tell Kurama about this? He is quite overprotective of me if you haven't realized," Naruto sheepishly asked as he turned to look at his cousin while twiddling his thumbs in slight anxiousness, hoping that his cousin isn't going to rat him out towards his brother or even his parents.

"What thing? About you out in the garden at night? Don't worry about it. If you don't tell, I won't tell," Karin smiled softly at her younger cousin as she patted him softly on his shoulder as they walked up the stairs, occasionally greeting the guards and the palace staff starting to make their way about the palace in order to start preparing for the day. The prince softly smiled back up at his cousin, clearly glad of her support and her lack of acting as a detective.

The walk up the stairs has been thankfully relatively silent, well that was until they arrived onto the top floor where they were greeted by the sight of the king exiting his bedroom. Both father and son stared at one another in silence for a full minute until Minato decided to take it upon himself to make the first move by strolling towards his son and niece. "Good morning Naruto, Karin, How was your sleep?" Minato asked as he ruffled his youngest son's already messy hair.